Elon Musk has sold the social network X to his own artificial intelligence company xAI in a stock transaction valued at $33 billion, the billionaire announced on Friday.
Both companies are privately owned, which means they are not required to disclose their finances to the public.
Musk noted in a post on X that the action “will unlock immense potential by combining the advanced AI capability and expertise of xAI with the massive reach of X.” He added that the deal values xAI at $80 billion and X at $33 billion.
Musk, who serves as CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, as well as the most important person for U.S. President Donald Trump in his government, purchased the social network, formerly called Twitter, for 44 billion dollars in 2022, dismantled its staff and changed its policies on hate speech, misinformation, and user verification, and rebranded it as X.
A year later, he launched xAI.
“The futures of xAI and X are intertwined. Today, we officially take the step to combine the data, models, computing, distribution, and talent. This combination will unlock immense potential by merging the advanced AI capabilities and expertise of xAI with the massive reach of X,” Musk wrote on X. “The merged company will offer more intelligent and meaningful experiences to billions of people, while staying true to our core mission of seeking truth and advancing knowledge.”